Wright, head of the most successful cocaine smuggling gang ever to target Britain, is said to have helped dope horses and fix races and had a number of jockeys on his pay roll.

Browne continued: "He gave them five grand or something like that.

"He (one jockey) did very well out of it. I'd get phone calls from (him) or other jockeys and I'd say 'Have you spoken to Uncle?' That's what everyone called him (Wright).

"They did big races, as big as the Cheltenham Festival. The bigger the race, the bigger the betting. I actually saw some of them collecting their money."

The extent of race-fixing and links with Wright were backed by Roger Buffham, the former Jockey Club head of security and the whistleblower behind the Panorama programme.

Browne said race-fixing was widespread

Buffham told Panorama: "Intelligence and information we had was that national hunt jockeys had close links with organised crime.

"It strikes at the heart of the integrity of horse racing...(that) a jockey can directly affect the outcome of a horse race."

The Jockey Club, however, insisted they were helpless to act against Wright.

Christopher Foster, the executive director, said: "From 1996 to 2002 we were either compromised by serious criminal investigations or could not act because a judge had ordered restrictions on reporting."

Towards the end of the programme he goes further, insisting there had been no foul play.

He added: "We act when there's evidence. I don't recall any situation where evidence was available to us where we did not take action."

No-lose betting claims

The hour-long special's first major allegation centres on Victor Chandler, one of Britain's leading bookmakers.

Buffham suggested that Chandler had, back in the 1990s, opened "free" betting accounts for a number of leading trainers.

He claimed the bookmaker wrote to a number of trainers, offering them accounts up to a certain amount, which would be topped up if they made a loss.

Panorama's major allegations

Race-fixing and doping by jockeys and criminals

Victor Chandler bookmakers had in the past offered free betting for leading trainers

Jockey Club accused of failing to police the sport

Flat jockeys linked with Hong Kong criminals

Andy Davies, the programme's narrator, said: "If trainers did not bet then bookies knew not to back it. If they did, then they'd go for it."

Trainers Jimmy Fitzgerald and Gay Kelleway were approached in front of the cameras with letters allegedly revealing they had "no lose accounts".